One of the first things Matt Polster did when he arrived to school as a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville freshman was visit a plaque that marks the entrance to the Ralph Korte Stadium commemorating the late Jack Blake, an SIUE alum, SIUE and St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and 1972 US Olympic team representative.
Blake’s legacy at SIUE is a story that is revisited each year by Tim Tighe, a former teammate of Blake, as he attempts to inspire each year’s freshmen entering the soccer program with ambitions to be recognized as a standout amongst their peers by winning the annual Jack Blake Award, now in its 18th year.
Polster, originally from Las Vegas, Nev., obviously listened closely to Tighe and then-head coach Kevin Kalish, eventually capping an exceptional four years in Edwardsville by being named the Jack Blake Award (JBA) winner for 2015.
“It’s the highest award you can get at SIUE,” Polster explained to Chicago-Fire.com. “When I first arrived at the SIUE campus, Kevin Kalish took me straight there. That was the first thing I saw, and he said it’s one of the biggest things here at SIUE, and for a soccer player there is no bigger award. All the players that have won it before are players that I look up to.”
Polster, whom some considered a surprise pick by the Fire at No. 7, has impressed in his rookie year, showing a composure and maturity that belies his relative short time in the professional game. His ability to break up play and quickly reset the Fire’s attack has been a feature of his all-action displays, and his performances for the Men in Red have landed him among the leading early-season candidates for the league's Rooke of the Year laurels.
“We knew how talented Matt was,” David Korn, Associate Head Coach of SIUE’s Soccer Program, told Chicago-Fire.com. “I think one of the things we were interested to see was what his best position would be at the next level, because he played both center mid and centerback for us. The fact that he has done so well in the center of midfield and gotten a chance to play as early as he has isn’t surprising because he is such a good player, he’s very confident and we knew he could play at that level.”
Polster’s standout performances and seamless transition to the high intensity and high pressure of MLS play also are of little surprise to Fire head coach Frank Yallop, who called on the rookie’s versatility by playing him at centerback in the recent 1-0 U.S. Open Cup victory over USL side Louisville City FC. He has appeared in all 14 MLS matches with 13 starts and leads all league rookies with 1,147 minutes played (of a possible 1,260), though he will miss his first match of the year Wednesday vs. DC United due to yellow card accumulation.
“I’m not surprised at his immediate impact, I think more by the consistency he has shown,” Yallop told Chicago-Fire.com. “I’ve had a lot of young players come in and do well for a little bit and then it kind of falls off. I think Matt’s going to get stronger and stronger, to be honest. He’s got a good character, he’s got a good physique for the league and he’s done well.”
It was that character that highlighted Polster, who just turned 22 on June 8, as a potential candidate for the highest honor in SIUE soccer, while a host of individual awards throughout the Missouri Valley Conference and NSCAA reinforced the impact he was making on the field.
Polster is the latest in a long list of SIUE graduates to progress to the professional ranks. 2014 JBA winner John Berner made five starts in goal for the Colorado Rapids in his rookie year, while former teammate Christian Volesky was initially drafted 32nd in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft by the Portland Timbers before eventually signing for USL side the Rochester Rhinos.
Korn, who previously had tried to recruit Polster for the University of Denver before he opted for SIUE, saw in Polster all the attributes that made him a natural choice to join the program's special fraternity of honorees.
“Jack Blake was one of the best soccer players, as well as people, to come through our soccer program and we’ve got a great history of people who have done that,” he continued. “The award was established in his honor to find someone who is maybe not the strongest player, although that’s obviously a component, but his personality, how he is over the course of four years, how he is off the field, with his teammates. A lot of it is actually voted upon by the past Jack Blake Award winners, by some of our alumni, by some of the administration. So really it’s someone who is very well rounded.”
Only a few months removed from joining a revered circle at his alma mater, Polster has been applying lessons learned at SIUE to his duties at the MLS level. Polster described his recent encounter with Orlando City’s former World Player of the Year Kaka as one of his toughest assignments yet, revealing how difficult it was to “check my shoulders as much as possible and make sure he didn’t get the ball as much.”
“Game-by-game I’m definitely feeling more at home,” Polster said of his progress thus far. “Players around me like Jeff Larentowicz and Mike Magee have definitely been giving me pointers on the field and at practice, and telling me what to do to speed the game up, to be more consistent and to be a better player all around. All the players that are here have made it easier to feel more at home and get more comfortable as games go on.”
Jack Blake was born in St. Louis, and after graduation from SIUE moved to Wheaton, Ill. where he continued his love of the game, coaching and being an inspiration to all, before his death, from cancer, in 1997. He is survived by his wife Beverly, sons Jack and Tim, and daughter Meghan. On June 20, the family host the ninth annual Jack Kicks Cancer 3v3 soccer tournament to raise funds for the Livestrong Foundation, at Hubble Middle School in Warrenville. For more information, please visit www.jackkickscancer.com. There’s still time to sign a team up or donate.
